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Tropical Asia extends from 10°S to 28°N and from 50°E to 150°E; it includes several countries of south Asia, which are influenced predominantly by the monsoons. The region is physiographically diverse and ecologically rich in natural and crop-related biodiversity. Although the present population of the region is principally rural, the region includes seven of the 25 largest cities in the world. Agriculture is the main industry in several countries of this region. Exploitation of natural resources associated with rapid urbanization, industrialization, and economic development has led to increasing air and water pollution, land degradation, and other environmental problems in countries of this region. Climate change represents a further stress. Over the long period of human occupation in the region, human use systems have developed some resilience to a range of environmental stresses (IPCC, 1998).

Table 11-1 lists the total population, gross domestic product, total land area and land area classified under cropland, forest cover, annual internal water resources, and annual production of cereals, as well as per capita availability of fish and seafood in some of the countries of Asia.

Table 11-1: Key information on the socioeconomics of some of Asian countries (WRI, 1998; FAO, 1999a).
Country/Region	Popu- lation, 1998 (1000s)	Gross Domestic Product, 1995 (per capita US$)	Land Area (103 ha)	Crop Land, 1992-1994 (103 ha)	Total Forest Cover, 1995 (103 ha)	Annual Internal RWR, 1998a (per capita m3)	Cereal Food Prod., Avg. 1994-1996a (103 t)	Annual Sea Food, Avg. 1993- 1995a (per capita kg)
Boreal Asia
- Russia	147231	2333	1688850	133072	763500	29115	69524	15.4
Arid and Semi-Arid Asia
- Afghanistan	23364	x	65209	8054	1398	2354	3019	x
- Armenia	3646	783	2820	582	334	2493	256	1.2
- Azerbaijan	7714	461	8660	1967	990	1069	981	4.8
- Georgia	5428	427	6970	1036	2988	10682	543	6.8
- Iran	73057	1756	162200	18500	1544	1755	16944	5.1
- Iraq	21795	2755	43737	5550	83	1615	2312	1.2
- Israel	5883	16645	2067	434	102	289	153	20.3
- Jordan	5956	1187	8893	405	45	114	93	3.4
- Kazakhstan	16854	1273	267073	35239	10504	4484	12340	3.5
- Kuwait	1809	15760	1782	5	5	11	2	10.4
- Kyrgyzstan	4497	685	19180	1387	730	10394	1132	0.1
- Lebanon	3194	3703	1023	306	52	1315	76	0.7
- Oman	2504	5483	21246	63	0	393	5	x
- Pakistan	147811	445	77088	21323	1748	1678	23818	2.4
- Saudi Arabia	20207	6875	214969	3777	222	119	3871	6.7
- Syrian Arab Republic	15335	1182	18378	5985	219	456	5816	0.6
- Tajikistan	6161	343	14060	846	410	11171	288	0.6
- Turkmenistan	4316	961	46993	1471	3754	232	988	8.4
- Turkey	63763	2709	76963	27611	8856	3074	28179	7.9
- United Arab Emirates	2354	17696	8360	75	60	64	7	21.5
- Uzbekistan	24105	947	41424	4618	9119	704	2718	1.0
Temperate Asia
- China	1255091	572	929100	95145	133323	2231	416954	14.5
- Japan	125920	40846	37652	4467	25146	4344	14566	67.6
- Korea, DPR	23206	x	12041	2007	6170	2887	5022	46.3
- Korea, Republic	46115	10142	9873	2053	7626	1434	6877	51.2
- Mongolia	2624	349	156650	1357	9406	9375	264	0.9
Tropical Asia
- Bangladesh	124043	246	13017	8849	1010	10940	27887	8.7
- Bhutan	1917	172	4700	136	2756	49557	111	x
- Cambodia	10754	276	17652	3832	9830	8195	3024	8.5
- India	975772	349	297319	169569	65005	1896	213326	4.0
- Indonesia	206522	1003	181157	31146	109791	12251	57197	15.7
- Laos	5358	361	23080	900	12435	50392	1485	6.6
- Malaysia	21450	4236	32855	7536	15471	21259	2158	28.3
- Myanmar	47625	x	65755	10067	27151	22719	20040	16.1
- Nepal	23168	197	14300	2556	4822	7338	5686	x
- Philippines	72164	1093	29817	9320	6766	4476	15119	33.5
- Singapore	3491	25156	61	1	4	172	x	x
- Sri Lanka	18450	720	6463	1889	1796	2341	2313	15.7
- Thailand	61400	2868	51311	21212	11630	1845	25759	26.3
- Vietnam	77896	279	32549	6738	9117	4827	26040	13.1
a Column 6 = annual internal renewable water resources (per capita, m3), 1998; column 7 = cereal food production (thousands of metric tons), average 1994-96; and column 8 = per capita annual food supply from fish and seafood (kg), average 1993-95. x = data not available.

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